The installation of conveyor belts for moving parcels, packages or luggage from one point to another requires straight/curved segments to configure the path from the point of origin to the point of destination of the mentioned goods.
As has been mentioned; this supporting and guiding assembly for conveyor belts is normally used in installations, such as airports or logistic centers for goods, in which they are constantly operating, therefore the management of their maintenance and the repair of breakdowns must be very quick in order to reduce the downtime of the respective transport line.
Firstly, the replacement of the actual conveyor belt, either due to wearing or due to a breakage, gives rise to a stop in the operation of the transport line for a considerable time, since many of its components must be disassembled in order to be able to access and remove said conveyor belt. The latter is generally assembled on a frame provided with two live rollers arranged on the ends thereof, and on which the conveyor belt slides. These rollers are fastened, from both ends, to the frame of the conveyor belt, so in order to be able to remove it, it is previously necessary to disassemble all the protective, guiding and tensioning elements, and thus the fasteners of the rollers can be accessed. Once the end live rollers are released, the conveyor belt can be removed.
Therefore, the replacement of the conveyor belt represents a complex and laborious task which requires the intervention of several qualified operators and considerable time, with the consequent economic loss that this means.
Patent US 20080041702 is known in the state of the art and describes a pivotable support for conveyor belts which allows reducing the belt replacement times as a result of the articulation of such support with respect to at least one of its ends. This solution reduces the conveyor belt replacement time but it also entails a high complexity, since it is still necessary to disassemble a large amount of components to be able to pivot the conveyor belt, because the latter is still supported on both ends of the frame.
As has been mentioned, most problems and breakdowns occur in the curved segments, without excluding the straight segments but to a lesser extent, since the latter require perimetric supporting and guiding mechanisms for the curved conveyor belt to work correctly. These mechanisms comprise bearing type rolling means which retain and guide the curved conveyor belt through a perimetric guiding profile arranged to that effect in the outer perimeter of the conveyor belt and which comes into contact with the mentioned bearings. Patents EP 0706489, EP 0716034, DE 29502064 and DE 19535757 are known in the state of the art and describe supporting and guiding mechanisms like those described above, which are installed at the outside of the curve through the outer surface of the frame.
In supporting and guiding devices of this type, due to the radial oscillations typical of the belt, overstresses are generated thereon which cause constant breakdowns, vibrations and seizing of the bearings.
In the event of a breakdown it is necessary, for the conveyor belt, to locate the supporting and guiding device which has broken down, disassemble it, replace it and start up the conveyor belt again, with the consequent downtime.
Additionally, patent US 2006/108207 describes a supporting and guiding device comprising a pair of bearings located symmetrically with respect to the conveyor belt, but which has the great drawback that the device must be disassembled for the location of the malfunction, for its repair or simply for its visual maintenance, giving rise to a long stop and a prolonged maintenance time.
Since the devices described in the aforementioned patents are installed at the outside of the curve and the inner bearings are concealed by the conveyor belt itself, the location of the breakdown and its repair forces disassembling many of its components, with the increase of time that this entails. The downtimes for checking for and repairing breakdowns in curved conveyor belts with supporting and guiding devices of this type are excessively high, which generates considerable economic losses.
The guiding devices additionally comprise a plurality of bearings retaining and guiding the conveyor belt through the contact with a protrusion comprised in the aforementioned perimetric profile.
European patent EP0349830 is already known in the state of the art and describes a guide profile for conveyor belts, comprising a protrusion which is driven between the guide bearings, which protrusion is provided with a radial appendage provided with a conduit for housing the end of the conveyor belt. The drawback of the profile described in said patent is that it is excessively rigid, which causes vibrations, noise and breakdowns in the conveyor belts.
Radial oscillations occur in curved conveyor belts due to:                The impossibility of making a completely circular section of the perimeter of the belt.        The constitution of the belt itself, since the latter is obtained from a structure with crosslinked reinforcing strands, which causes a different radial behavior according to the distribution of said internal structure.        
These radial oscillations cause on the different supporting and guiding elements for the belt cyclic overstresses which generate unpleasant noise, vibrations and fatigue, with the consequent machine breakdowns and stops.
Patent DE 4412931 is also known, in which the perimetric profile comprises an elastic area which is capable of absorbing part of the vibrations caused, but even so it experiences the radial oscillations and, additionally, said elastic area, in contact with the bearings, experiences high wearing, causing a very reduced service life.